Meet YayYay

Today I’m a part-time granny nanny, for the sheer love and joy of taking care of my youngest granddaughter.

For years, I was support staff–secretary, legal secretary, administrative assistant. You know–the one who gets to the office early, works through lunch and leaves late, making sure everything is ready for the big presentation tomorrow, that the reports get done, grammar checked, tables and figures all properly labeled.

From there I branched out to staffing coordinator, where I read hundreds of resumes a week and hired and placed thousands over the course of several years. What a joy it was to match a job seeker who was a little down on their luck with a company who needed her or his skills and experience.

Moving on up, I had a blast as the program coordinator of a university space grant, and finally, at my last job, managing inventory for a wonderful little company that specialized in the best high quality recycled paper in the world.

That’s where I met the man who would change my cooking life forever. I put it all down to my last boss, James. He’s the one who helped me discover my inner foodie, forever telling me about the delicious meal he’d served his family the night before. He and his wife shared all the household chores, and took turns cooking.

His dishes sounded so quick, so flavorful, and so easy to make, that I started trying them, on the fly. James, I’ll love you to my dying day for showing me how much fun it is to cook with fresh, whole ingredients.

How about you, reading this? Do you have someone like that in your life? Someone who, just being himself or herself, sparked an interest in you that you never imagined you might enjoy?

Today, I’d rather be in the kitchen than almost anywhere except with my sweetheart of nearly three decades and my children and grandchildren. Bring them all into the kitchen with me, and I’m in heaven right here on this mortal plane.

You might be wondering how I got that funny name, YayYay

The way lots of folks get odd names–from a child just learning to speak. Our second oldest grandchild, gave me mine. Each morning, as I entered her family’s home, I’d find her bouncing on her daddy’s knee. They’d both look up in glee, she clapping her hands, and her father shouting, “Yay! Granny’s here! Yay!” Raising her arms to me, the little one parroted the two easiest words, “Yay! Yay!” Eventually, all the grandkids called me YayYay and do to this day.

Won’t you introduce yourself?

Now that you know a little about me, I’d love to learn a little about you. Are you a parent or grandparent? What do your wee ones call you? Did you choose it, or did one of them choose it for you?

Not to overwhelm you with questions, but I invite you also to share how you found this site–through a recipe, or a link to one of my articles? Were you searching for something in particular–and did you find it? If you write about food-related subjects, or, well, just about anything, I’d love to hear a little about your work, too.

Come on in to my kitchen. Sit down. Have a cup of tea and a homemade whole wheat scone. Hit that comment button and tell me a little about yourself, won’t you?

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24 Comments

I’ve been off blogging for a bit but remember our chats with affection. I thought of you as I have a major problem you might have a remedy for.
I followed a recipe to make Golden Syrup, the elixer of my youth in England, but I overcooked it. I poured it into a jar and hoped for the best. It is now totally solid! How can I reclaim it? Just stand the whole jar in boiling water and hope it will melt, or in the microwave, for the same reason? I doubt this has ever happened to you, dear lady. Any suggestions will be welcome (or from your other followers, too).
Barb

Well, I have to laugh. I’ve never had golden syrup go solid on me—because I’ve never made it! I’d heard of it, seen it in a few recipes, but never tried to make it. So of course, I had to go looking. An hour later, after drooling over several recipes, I’d like to taste that stuff!

Regarding how to fix it, I’ve made few syrups in my lifetime, so not a lot of experience there. I did find a rather old page that has a paragraph at the rock bottom with some suggestions for fixing crystallized syrup. It’s on a site called “Make Messy” (Don’t you love that?) and seems to be in almost as much disarray as YayYay’s Kitchen is these days, judging by that one page. Still, it looks like a helpful page for making syrups. Here’s the link: https://makemessy.com/how-to-prevent-crystallization-of-sugar/. Hey, if you save your syrup, please come back, if you can spare the time, and tell us what worked.

So nice to “see” you here again Barb. I always enjoyed your Talking Pictures. I’m sure I’ve missed a lot these last few years, and I’ll see if I can’t make some time to catch up a bit.

Thanks, YayYay, I’ll go into your suggested link and see what I can find out. You should have seen my husband’s face when his spoon just clinked on the supposed syrup. What I should have done is poured it onto a greased pan with peanuts, and I’d have had peanut brittle! I’ll let you know what l find out. Barb

I'm so happy to have found your blog. As soon as I saw your picture, I thought, "What a beautiful soul!" I think your love and your inner peace are evident even through just the few articles of yours that I have read so far. I look forward to reading more!
I found your blog through a comment that you left on Zero Waste Chef. I am on the hunt for vegan and vegetarian recipes that my husband will like! I recently went mostly vegan and want to show others that simpler, plant-based foods can be quite tasty and filling. I am also interested in all things fermentation and waste-free. Thanks for what you're doing! Keep being you, and in that way you will shine the brightest. :)

Hi Kathryn, congratulation on the Blog-aholic Award! You have been nominated by Miriam of Israeli Salad, that’s how I found you, and I am so glad I did!
Love your blog, love your style of writing,
Dolly

Hi Kathryn, I was reading your comment on Lisa’s blog and was intrigued by these words you wrote in one of the comments there: “I couldn’t possibly know how deeply felt the fleeting would be”. I thought that was so poetic! You have a wonderful style of writing. I hope to find wholesome food and thoughts in your blogs in the days to come.

So glad you stopped by at Fiona’s Favourites. I’ve been away and catching up with myself and my badly behaved technology (which means that everything, from my day job to blogging) is behind. Anyhow, better late than never! Glad you found me so that I found you!

I found your blog on the WordPress Daily Post Photo Challenge for Vibrant. I have a similar plate that belonged to my grandmother. I have four amazing grandchildren aged 12, 10, 5 and 2. They call me Nana and I don’t remember how that came about. My blog is mainly about our travels around the U.S. and Canada in an RV. I also love photography and when we aren’t traveling I sometimes participate in the photo challenges.

I was looking at posts in the commons, because a few of mine didn’t get a response. I saw that a couple of yours didn’t either. So, I wanted to encourage you and I am encouraged by you! While I don’t write about food all the time, I do post original recipes from time to time AND I am working toward better eating habits all the time. My current post is about my cooking antics this month. As I’ve tried to use what I have, instead of buying new, it has made for some pretty interesting meals. I’m going to follow your blog. Here’s my post just posted a few minutes ago! https://angelambrose.wordpress.com/2016/01/24/mjr-food-antics/

Angel, thank you! I too run down the “not replieds” when I get a chance. I’m sorry I missed yours. I was rather surprised how many didn’t get noticed. I imagine it has to do with how many folks in the class are online at the time one of us posts a question.

Hello YayYay!
What a great blog, am looking forward to reading more. Did you know that the Greek word for granny is YaYa? Your recipes are looking delicious! My four young grandchildren are very special too. When we started our boat adventure, I didn’t have any grandchildren five years ago, and we were free to go where we liked and when we liked. But now I have four, aged 3 and under, the pull is very strong and I have a need to be with them as much as I can. We live on our yacht in Greece from April until October, then come back to Englsnd to see family, especially Ted, Addison, Beatrice and Charlie.

Hello fandancer. I did not know that the Greek word for granny is YaYa. How interesting! It sounds to me as if you enjoy the best of all worlds, between the boat and your family. Best wishes for continued joy.

Food is at the center

Food.
Fun.
Shopping locally.
Cooking together with fresh, whole, organic ingredients.
Living mindfully.
Laughing a lot.
Forgiving ourselves and each other.
Giggling every chance we get.
Giving gratitude each and every day.
Taking action now and then.
That's what I'm aiming for.

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For impassioned, mouthy, irreverent, and as often as I manage it, compassionate commentary, follow me on social media. I’m going for alchemy, in myself and in society at large: Working with other souls to foster a switch worldwide from fear, hate and anger to safety, love and peace. Whatever your views, may you be blessed.